Join us for the STEAM Café this month! April’s STEAM talk, “From Jaws to Wall-E: The Pop Culture Narratives Reflecting Humanity’s Anxieties Around Nature”, will be presented Dr. Christy Tidwell, professor in the Department of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at South Dakota Mines.

Science fiction and horror movies frequently reflect – and sometimes shape – our cultural anxieties about nature. As we work to respond to contemporary environmental issues such as pollution and mass extinction, these pop culture narratives take up such issues both directly and indirectly – for example, monstrous animals attacking humans (Jaws), the dangers of isolated spaces (Texas Chainsaw Massacre), the potential consequences of pollution (Wall-E) or resource extraction and use (Mad Max). Other science fiction/horror films illustrate audiences' anxieties about confusing the lines between human and nonhuman (The Fly). Dr. Christy Tidwell, professor in the Department of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at South Dakota Mines, will discuss how these fears of and for nature play a complicated role in our cultural response to environmental threats, sometimes creating more distance from the natural world, sometimes creating sympathy for it, and sometimes prompting reflection on our own place in it.